The field of the invention is ice cream scoops and the invention is directed to a particular modification of a known structure which modification provides unusual advantages.
Ice cream scoops of the construction of the incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,698 have been made and sold for a substantial period of time with considerable success. The ice cream scoop of such patent is made out of sheet aluminum stamped and formed in the manner described in detail in said patent. The handle 17 of the patented structure has an integral bowl 18 joined thereto at a juncture, the bowl being hemispherical. An arcuate slot 20 is cut in the bowl starting at the juncture and extending about half way through the bowl on the bottom thereof. A rivet 31 is mounted across the handle spaced a short distance from the juncture. A stamped and formed ejector 33 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the patent is mounted by its ears 27 and 28 on the rivet with a stainless steel spring 32 coiled around the rivet and urging the arcuate tongue 24 of the ejector 33 to enter and seat in the slot 20. At this time the integral lever arm 26 of the other end of the ejector 33 is disposed above the remainder of the handle 17 at a point where the user's thumb can engage it. The arcuate tongue 24 closely follows the curvature of the bowl 18 on the interior of the bowl so that a ball of ice cream can be formed therein when the scoop is used. The user presses down on the thumb lever arm 26 to eject the ball. When the ball of ice cream has been ejected, the spring 32 automatically returns the tongue 24 into its slot 20 assuming of course that the user releases the thumb lever arm 26.
The gauge of aluminum used to make the handle and the integral bowl of the scoop of U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,698 was chosen to be 0.063 inch (1.62 mm.) because the presence of the slot 20 weakened the scoop at the juncture between the handle and the bowl, this being the location of greatest stress. It has been found that even with the use of this heavy gauge of aluminum, when the scoop is used to form balls from ice cream which is relatively hard, the pressure required to force the scoop into the bulk of the ice cream may cause the bowl to bend backwards at the juncture thus rendering the scoop useless. Additionally, in order to assure that the tongue 24 does not pivot through the slot 20 but stops at a proper location to give a continuum of the bowl interior for efficiency in scooping and forming the ball of ice cream, the accuracy of dimensions and fit of the tongue 24 and slot 20 must be maintained. This requires frequent dressing and sharpening of the dies. In the commercial version of the scoop of U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,698, the front end 25 of the tongue 24 was formed with a sharp angle to fit into a chamfered front end formed in the slot 20. This provided the stop means for the ejector 33 rather than the back end 20d of the slot.
According to the invention, the slot 20 is eliminated enabling the entire handle and bowl to be stamped from thinner gauge aluminum because the strength of the juncture between the handle and bowl is no longer impaired. The resulting economy is substantial while the strength of the juncture is increased. An added advantage over the scoop of U.S. Pat. No. 2,756,698 is that there are no sharp edges to catch on cloth and paper and no corners or slots which could prevent thorough cleansing and might harbor bacteria.